MCTP: Sophomore Transitions: Bridges into a Statistics Major and Big Data Research Experiences via Learning Communities

普渡大学的这一统计生活学习社区(STAT-LLC)项目涉及本科统计专业学生培训的两个转变：(1)从一年级通识课程到二年级统计学专业课程的桥梁，和(2)这座桥梁成为学生在数据分析，特别是大数据方面的第一次研究经验。在为期五年的时间里，每年都有20名大二实习生参加STAT-LLC，其中包括一门新的基于项目的大数据分析课程，新的有指导的研究合作和努力，一系列新的研讨会，专业发展倡议，以及共同生活在一个新的学习社区中。项目负责人将安排三门核心课程(概率论、统计理论和数据分析)和研讨会系列课程分块进行，因此学生们将这些课程作为一个队列一起学习(仍然有足够的时间用于个别选修课)，一起住在宿舍里，并参与为期12个月的研究体验(从大二开始到大三开始)。高级人员是普渡大学统计系的12名教职员工。其他教师导师将来自精算学、大气/地球科学、生物学、生物医学工程、化学工程、电气和计算机工程、健康与人文科学和雷根斯特里夫医疗工程中心，并得到管理人员、学术顾问和招聘人员的支持。除了普渡大学，Rose-Hulman还将招待学生参加一年一度的本科数学会议。杜克大学统计科学系和加州大学洛杉矶分校统计系将与普渡大学合作举办Datafest学生竞赛。评估将由普渡大学发现学习研究中心提供，外部咨询委员会已与来自美国统计协会、杜克大学、印第安纳大学、约翰·N·加德纳本科教育卓越研究所、统计与应用数学研究所、明尼苏达大学、威斯康星大学、南卡罗来纳大学以及澳大利亚墨尔本的沃尔特和伊莱扎·霍尔医学研究所的同事组成。此外，统计生活学习社区(STAT-LLC)将把这一模式与早期面向团队的大数据分析介绍结合起来。我们推测，该项目将促进留住学生，向学生灌输信心，帮助学生度过成长期的大学二年级，并为他们申请研究生院做好准备。这种全面的体验应该会导致更多的学生攻读双专业：统计学和数据导向学科的应用专业。我们对这一综合培训经验的评估应该会揭示出新的见解，即如何将大二的学术课程、研究、专业发展和住宿生活结合起来，以缓解大二学生在STEM学科中的低迷。高级人员将在全国会议上提供教师培训讲习班，教同事如何以与校园相关的方式将二年级经历的各个方面结合起来。研讨会将是免费的，以最大限度地提高教师的参与度，否则他们将无法获得此类资源、网络、合作伙伴关系和职业发展机会。因此，更多的校园将能够在学习社区的背景下为大二学生提供研究体验。学生们将在每年春天的Rose-Hulman本科生数学会议和印第安纳州MAA小组会议上交流他们的经验。多样性倡议将得到普渡残疾资源中心、艾米丽·莫兹·沃格尔二年级学生领导力发展会议、Horizons为第一代学生提供的学生支持、普渡科学促进奇卡诺人和美洲原住民科学协会(SACNAS)分会、印第安纳州路易斯·斯托克斯少数族裔参与联盟(LSAMP)项目和科学多样性办公室的支持。

This Statistics Living-Learning Community (STAT-LLC) project at Purdue University addresses two transitions in the training of undergraduate statistics students: (1.) The bridge from first-year general curriculum into sophomore year Statistics major courses, and (2.) The bridge into a student's first research experience in data analysis, especially with Big Data. Each year over a five year period, 20 sophomore trainees will take part in the STAT-LLC that involve a new project-based course in big data analysis, new mentored research collaborations and thrusts, a new seminar series, professional development initiatives, and living together in a new learning community. The project leaders will schedule 3 core courses (probability theory, statistical theory, and data analysis) and the seminar series in blocks, so students take these courses together as a cohort (and still have plenty of time for individual electives), live together in a dormitory, and participate in a research experience that lasts 12 months (start of sophomore year to start of junior year). The Senior Personnel are 12 faculty from the Department of Statistics at Purdue University. Additional faculty mentors will hail from Actuarial Science, Atmospheric/Earth Science, Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Health and Human Sciences, and the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering and be supported by administrators, academic advisors, and recruiters. Beyond Purdue, Rose-Hulman will host the students for their annual Undergraduate Mathematics Conference. The Department of Statistical Science at Duke University and the Department of Statistics at the University of California, Los Angeles will partner with Purdue on a DataFest student competition. Assessment will be provided by Purdue's Discovery Learning Research Center, and an External Advisory Board has been assembled with colleagues from the American Statistical Association, Duke University, Indiana University, the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, University of South Carolina, and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, in Melbourne, Australia.Pairing the academic and residential life experiences is a known best practice for the first-year experience but is rarely used at the sophomore level as it is in the present project. Furthermore, the Statistics Living-Learning Community (STAT-LLC) will pair this model with an early, team-oriented introduction to big data analysis. We conjecture that the project will promote retention, instill confidence in the students, help propel the students through the formative second year of college, and prepare them to apply for graduate school. This holistic experience should result in more students pursuing double majors: Statistics and an applied major in a data-oriented discipline. Our assessment of this comprehensive training experience should reveal new insights into the way that pairing academic coursework, research, professional development, and residential life at the sophomore level can alleviate the sophomore slump within STEM disciplines. The Senior Personnel will offer faculty training workshops at national meetings to teach colleagues how to unite the aspects of the sophomore experience in a relevant way for their campuses. The workshops will be free, to maximize participation by faculty who would not otherwise have access to such resources, networking, partnerships, and professional development opportunities. As a result, more campuses will be able to offer research experiences for sophomores in the context of a learning community. Students will communicate their experiences each spring at the Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Math Conference and the Indiana MAA Section meeting. Diversity initiatives will be supported by Purdue's Disability Resource Center; Emily Mauzy Vogel Sophomore Leadership Development Conference; HORIZONS Student Support for 1st generation students; Purdue's chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS); the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Indiana project; and the Science Diversity Office.